After a close battle with the Carolina Hurricanes, the Pittsburgh Penguins winning streak comes to an end.
The Pittsburgh Penguins winning streak wasn’t going to last forever, but it sure looked like it could reach eight games.
Despite some really good play from a majority of the Penguins lineup, they couldn’t hold on in the dying minutes against the Carolina Hurricanes.
It’s a close race in the Metropolitan Division and the Hurricanes once again got the upper hand.
The winning streak may not have been extended, but a couple of productive streaks stayed alive for the Penguins.
Evgeni Malkin has been the most productive player on the roster, and he tallied an assist to push his point streak to eight games.
Over the last eight games, Malkin has recorded two goals and 10 assists for 12 points.
Malkin’s assist against the Hurricanes came on the power play and for the eight game in a row, the Penguins recorded a goal with the man advantage.
Rickard Rakell deflected a wide shot from Malkin to tie the game in the second period to continue the trend of solid play from both special teams units.
The Penguins penalty kill was perfect against the Hurricanes killing off three chances; the penalty kill has only given up one goal in the last seven games.
Brock McGinn scored his nineth goal of the season on a 2-on-1 rush with Kasperi Kapanen, giving the Penguins a 2-1 lead, but that would be it for them.
Casey DeSmith was given the surprise start and he was stout early, but would eventually let three slip past on 29 total shots.
The Penguins eventually pulled DeSmith in the closing couple of minutes and they were pushing hard, but couldn’t open any opportunities.
It may be recorded as a loss, and the end of a winning streak, but the Penguins played a solid game that had plenty of positives.
The Penguins will look to finally take it to the Hurricanes when they meet again in just four days.
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